Whakaora, Pae Ora: Health Principles and Psychotherapy

Abstract

The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Amendment Act 2019 and the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 have had major implications for the delivery of health services in Aotearoa New Zealand, especially with regard to equity of provision and delivery and to engaging and working with Māori as tangata whenua. As part of the previous New Zealand government’s restructuring of the health service, the Pae Ora Act set out certain principles for the health sector which this article discusses and applies to psychotherapy, and, specifically, with reference to two ethical codes and the standards of ethics for psychotherapists working in Aotearoa New Zealand. Notwithstanding the fact that the current New Zealand Parliament, dominated by the coalition government elected in October 2023, has repealed that part of the Pae Ora Act that established a separate Māori Health Authority as a way of delivering better outcomes, its principles remain in place and are important for psychotherapists practicing as health practitioners in this country.